Hear Steve Wariner 'close-up' at the VBC Friday night

HUNTSVILLE, Alabama -- Steve Wariner was the first Grammy-winning country music star I ever joined in publicly singing “Happy Birthday.” And, so far, the only one.

Wariner had befriended NASCAR driver Michael Waltrip as I was handling public relations for Waltrip's sponsor, Pennzoil. When Waltrip’s birthday rolled around, Wariner, his wife, Caryn, and I conspired to surprise Waltrip in the middle of a sponsor-related dinner in Birmingham.

Wariner was hiding in the kitchen, and the two of us burst through the door, Wariner – with guitar around his neck – leading us in singing “Happy Birthday,” me pushing a cart on which an enormous birthday cake was riding.

Later that weekend, he sat in Waltrip’s motorhome and played a while for an audience of a half-dozen of us.

Now I get to hear him in a larger venue. Wariner, a four-time Grammy winner, most recently of the 2010 Country Instrumental award for his terrific tribute to Chet Atkins, will perform Friday night at the concert hall at Von Braun Center.

Wariner is one of the nicest guys you’d ever want to meet.

He’s one of the most talented musicians you could hear.

He’s one of only five C.G.P.’s. That stands for Certified Guitar Player.

That’s a designation created by Atkins, the greatest picker in country music history, and bestowed on Wariner, Tommy Emmanuel, John Knowles and Jerry Reed; Atkins was the fifth C.G.P.

For all his Atkinsesque pickin’ ability, Wariner has had a list of hits spanning three decades, from “All Roads Lead to You” and “Some Fools Never Learn” to the tender “Holes In The Floor Of Heaven.”

Wariner’s mother, Geneva, died a month ago after a two-year battle with cancer, and he hadn’t performed the song – which includes the line “I know mama’s watching now” – again until last Thursday. Confessed Wariner, “I had my eyes shut the whole time.”

Wariner was weary and hoarse when we talked last week. He had performed alongside Garth Brooks in front of 18,000 at the Calgary Stampede and had landed back in Nashville at 4 a.m.

“If you could see me now, I’m doing air quotes because he’s ‘retired,’ ” Wariner said, “but he called about four months ago and said, ‘Dude, I’m doing the Calgary Stampede 100th anniversary. I’m putting a show together.’ They hadn’t played in 18 months, but it was like they just played two nights before.”

Friday’s show at the VBC will be “pretty much just the opposite (of a Brooks extravaganza), and that’s what’s going to be nice,” Wariner said. “It’s more intimate. The really hard-core fans will like it. My fans are saying they like these kinds of shows. It’s almost like getting a glimpse behind the curtains.

“I come out by myself, go through a bunch of my old hits, then a few old friends I work with come out. I play a bunch from the Chet album, and there’s an audiovisual aspect of it,” he continued. “It’s very intimate and very personal, a lot of stories. It’s like you can reach out and touch a hand in the audience. It’s very close-up and people seem to like it. It suits me and my life and where I am in my music right now.”